Poultry is one of the most nutritious and economical meats available to consumers. Chickens are more efficient converters of feed to meat as compared to cattle or hogs. A chicken farmer can complete a ‘broiler’ from a small chick to full grown broiler in seven weeks. So, the down time between the removal of a grown chickens and the bringing in of small chicks is very expensive. Therefore, barn cleanup time needs to be kept to a minimum.
With regulations concerning animal waists, the waist must be handled in an environmentally safe and efficient manor. Composting is seen as a good overall environmentally friendly solution.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,401,657 B2 by Huber for GROUND SCRAPER issued on Jul. 22, 2008 teaches a ground scraper which will level the ground and loosen compacted manure. Wheels are mounted on the rear of the unit and can be raised and lowered hydraulically to level the scraper box. A single blade can be raised and lowered hydraulically as well. The ground scraper can be pulled by a typical farm tractor. Huber teaches a device for breaking compacted manure free from the soil and leveling the soil. However, the manure cannot be loaded onto or carried away by the scraper or spread and compacted onto a compost pile.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,711,403 by Gregory et al. for METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR CLEANING CHICKEN MANURE FROM CHICKEN HOUSES which issued on Dec. 8, 1987 teaches a combination scraper, screener, elevator and dumpable trailer which is used to scrape up chicken litter and sift out reusable bedding material from the manure. The apparatus can be pulled by a typical farm tractor. The trailer bed is dumped hydraulically. The elevator is propelled hydraulically or by tractor supplied power take-off. Gregory's apparatus picks up, carries, and dumps manure, but, is not configured to spread or to compact the manure evenly onto a compost pile.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,806,685 by Lastinger for CONFINEMENT HOUSE CLEANER which issued on Sep. 15, 1998 teaches a combination scraper, screener, elevator, and hopper which is emptied by a drag chain which pulls the litter along the floor of the hopper and out through a small door in the lower rear portion of the hopper back wall. The cleaner can be pulled by a typical farm tractor. The scraper may be raised or lowered hydraulically. The elevator can be propelled hydraulically or by tractor supplied power take-off. Prior art confinement house cleaners scrape up and carries chicken litter, but does not dump, compact and level the manure, the cleaner drags the manure out of a small opening in the back of the hopper which will cause the manure to be heaped in a narrow pile. The cleaner is not configured to effectively spread or compact the manure onto a compost pile.
An apparatus is needed which will quickly and effectively clean chicken houses and will make composting of chicken manure easy and effective, as well. This apparatus will be capable of being moved onto the top surface of a compost pile, unloading the contents held within and then compressing or compacting the manure that was just delivered onto the top of the compost pile in one fluid motion while leaving the pile ready to receive another load immediately without the need of another apparatus for fragmenting, leveling, removing, transporting, or compacting the litter in a pile which is important to provide efficient composting conditions and minimize the waste storage area.